Luja Lab

We use camera traps to record the presence of jaguars, ocelots and their prey outside the Natural Protected Areas.

 

In Mexico, conservation has long been based on Federal Natural Protected Areas (NPA). Although some have played a fundamental role and have contributed to conserving species and populations, most of the NPA have been outnumbered and do not have sufficient funding or personnel to guarantee the permanence of endangered species. Therefore, it is important to assess what happens outside the NPA, both with species and with people and the dynamics they establish with wildlife.

 

We used camera traps to determine the presence and abundance of two focal species of  carnivores: the jaguar (Panthera onca) and the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) as well as their potential prey outside the Nayarit NPA in western Mexico. In parallel, we work with communities where these species are present to determine their perceptions of these species, exploring the viability of corridors for focal species.

 

In 2019 we start to put GPS collars on jaguars jaguars to know their movements, home range, as well as the use they make of a habitat highly modified by human activities.